About the history of the mushroom
Just as in the Middle Ages, when mushrooms were still associated with the devil and witchcraft and all sorts of mysterious stories circulated about them, mushrooms still appeal to the imagination. It is only in the last few hundred years that we have come to understand better what a mushroom is and the important function fungi have in nature. For example, archaeological finds show that mushrooms already populated the earth around 400 million years ago and that with their power to break down raw materials and convert them into a nutritious soil, they ensured that the first plants and trees could feed themselves and take root. Fossils have also been found that seem to indicate that gigantic mushrooms of up to 8 meters high existed at that time, but researchers still do not agree on the interpretation of these fossils. Cave drawings and other archaeological finds do show that mushrooms were already used as food, as medicine and as a hallucinogen in prehistoric times. Through ever-increasing scientific research, we are slowly but surely able to understand the significant role that mushrooms have played within the world's ecosystem for millions of years.
The Wood Wide Web
Below ground, plants, bacteria and fungi help each other in a complex, synergistic connection known as the 'Wood Wide Web': a network in which all life on earth is connected. Fungi in particular, also called mycelium, play a crucial role in the survival of all life on earth. Mycelium is one of the oldest life forms on our planet and consists of a tangle of minuscule fungal threads that can grow enormously large and thousands of years old. For example, the oldest known mycelium species (consisting of the threads of a single fungus) covers an area of 9.7 km2 and the network is estimated to be more than 2000 years old. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi and they are important for their survival, because they spread the reproductive cells of the fungus during their short life. However, it is the entire ecosystem of life that is essential for the survival of fungi. After all, fungi live on biological waste products that they break down and absorb as nutrients; they therefore benefit from the greatest possible biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. In fact, there is a special, crucial interaction. For millions of years, fungi have not only been the garbage men of our earth, but also literally the breeding ground for biodiversity on earth, for maintaining our ecosystems and thus for protecting the health of all life on earth.
Host Defense's Mission
Host Defense and its parent company Fungi Perfecti not only produce high-quality mushroom supplements, they also feel a great responsibility to share their knowledge and experiences regarding the value and cultivation of mushrooms and mycelium with as many people as possible. They are therefore involved in educating and educating people and communities about growing edible mushrooms and they conduct research into various applications of mycelium. For example, research is conducted into the development of new biofuels, natural, non-toxic pesticides and water filtration methods based on fungi and they stimulate research into the use of beneficial fungi in the restoration of forest and agricultural land. They are also committed to the protection of nature and all its inhabitants and are pioneering, among other things, with their strategy to use fungi and mushrooms to save the honeybee. As founder (Hon.)D.Sc. Paul Stamets so beautifully puts it: “The path to the future is the path of mycelium”.
Quality Mushroom Supplements
Host Defense Mushrooms supplements are of the highest possible quality. For example, the ingredients are grown and processed in the United States of America without exception and are free of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), pesticides and other pollutants. The products have been developed based on years of research and the Washington State Department of Agriculture has designated the products as being 'certified organic'. The ingredients are also sustainably grown under strictly controlled conditions. Each mushroom species is sustainably harvested by owner (Hon.) D.Sc. Paul Stamets himself in one of the primeval forests in the Pacific Northwest by taking a small tissue sample and then growing a new culture from it. This is done in an in-house research center and under the strict supervision of Stamets and his experienced team. When the sample is harvested, the ecosystem and the mushroom species remain unaffected.